Difficulties of Studying in Austria and How to Overcome them

Studying in a certain country is an opportunity for the students to explore the country and gain an important study experience in an international university that offers a high-quality education. But, at first, you may face some difficulties and challenges, which might affect the main goal you came for. Today, we will discuss some of the most important difficulties of studying in Austria that face the international students and how to overcome them.

International students may face many challenges and difficulties in studying in Austria. These difficulties are divided into many fields:

Table of Contents

The Language

The biggest challenge for an international student who wants to pursue studying in Austria is the language, especially the German language.

German is the official language in Austria. The second language in most of the countries is either English or French.

So, this obliges the student to learn German. Also, if you have a fair level in the language; it is not enough. Most of the study programs in the Austrian universities are taught in German.

Moreover, one of the requirements is having an advanced level in the German language and be able to interact with it effectively.

To solve this problem, you have to attend German classes, if you want to either learn or develop language skills.

Furthermore, if you decide to take German classes to ease up your life in Austria, be ready to dedicate more time to it than what you would for regular German. The reason is that Austrian German has many dialects, depending on the region you are living.

Check our article about learning German in Austria.

Cultural Challenges

As an international student, moving to a European country and especially studying in Austria is a different experience. You may face cultural challenges. The customs and traditions of Austrian society are different from many other countries. Students may find it difficult to blend in quickly. They have different traditions regarding clothes, food, religious celebrations, and others.

To overcome this challenge, students have to learn about these customs and traditions. They also have to enjoy the spirit of openness and acceptance of others despite their cultural differences.

Moreover, you have to build relations with other foreign students for the exchange of experiences. Relations are also important with the Austrian students, as it contributes to closely learn about the traditions of their society. It also plays a vital role in developing communication in German.

Accommodation

Accommodation is one of the most important difficulties, as students always search for accommodations that match their financial capabilities.

The costs of accommodation differ according to the location. For example, Vienna is one of the high-cost locations, as one of the most important destinations that attract students from all over the world.

To fix such a problem, there are many websites that offer information about accommodation in Austria, together with its cost and features.

To learn more, check our article about the student accommodation in Austria.

Costs of Studying

The cost of studying is one of the serious challenges in Austria. It is kind of high when compared to the students’ financial capabilities. This is in addition to the high cost of living, comparing to many other countries.

In Austria, international students can work while studying, on condition that they do not exceed the legal weekly number of working hours.

This helps in securing some financial resources that help in covering the costs of studying and living in Austria.

To get more information, check our article about work and study in Austria.

Furthermore, student unions in Austrian universities play an important role in offering all the needed assistance to the students.

They also provide the students with the necessary information about studying at an Austrian university, especially in the first year.

So what are the good reasons to study in Austria for international students?

Studying and living in Austria as an international student have certainly pros and cons. Along with these difficulties, let us see in what ways is Austria a good country to study.

First and foremost, the main reason why to study in Austria is because of the quality of life. The country is renowned as one of the most enjoyable places to live in the world. This makes of Austria one of the best places to start your academic career.

Moreover, to help you easily adapt in your study life in Austria, public services of the country are well organized. It has this good reputation for having clean and green cities that are also safe for international students, since Austria has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

Along with safety, the country’s geographical location makes it easy to travel to other parts of Europe from Austria. You can reach Munich, Prague, or Venice in 5 hours by car, while you can be in Paris, Spain and Greece within 2 to 2.5 hours by flight.

Last but not least, Austria has many of the top-rated universities in the world and in Europe. University tuition fee is cheaper than in many other countries: free for EU/EEA citizen students and around $800 per semester for students from other countries.